Loving Eleanor Wolfe
by Pterodactylarms
Summary: Most of Ellie's life has revolved around two things: ballet and family. Ellie moved to the capital to attend the prestigious arts academy, to not only follow her dreams of becoming a ballerina on a professional level, but to escape her life under the dictation of her abusive ex-boyfriend. She's emotional, reclusive in nature, and just trying to figure out where she fits in.
1. chapter 1

**BEFORE YOU READ**

 _I apologize ahead of time for the lack of detail- I've been consumed with work and issues with my home life and have been forcing myself to work on this story at 5 in the morning when I get to work…- so despite my combing over it I'm sure, if read aloud, will sound awful. I assure you, once I have a bit more time on my hands future chapters will be a lot more enjoyable and interesting to read. (I'll hopefully have my brother to proof my work as well, now that school is out). Each chapter will, most likely, be long, so, yeah… sorry. (as a side note, since writing this I have moved to different shift)_ _At the very bottom will be the playlist I listened to while writing this chapter._ _Just a warning, there will be a lot of violence in this story, any chapter that contains anything too graphic will be exclusive to this site (I also post on Tumblr and the amino app)_ _Anyways, thanks for being patient with me! I hope I don't scare you off with my crap writing._ _-Chelsey Renee_

ONE

Ellie was alone, or, at least she felt like it, a sensation she always thought that she was never supposed to feel. She was surrounded by people; through school, she'd met a plethora of new people, acquaintances she got along with, for the most part, but could never fully entrust herself to. Even her roommate, Angela, had been assigned to living with her through the Academy- the academy now controlled almost every aspect of Ellie's life. Despite being busy, she was doing what she loved: training to perform at a professional level. Ballet was her passion; moving to the city also provided the shelter she'd longed for from the chaos that was her oppressed life under Ethan, her abusive ex.

Until, of course, it didn't.

The sun shone through the leaf-printed film on the small 1'x2' window, the only source of light in the dingy, mildew-scented, bathroom. The stained tile, which had, at one point in its life, been white glistened from the steam rising from the bathtub into the cool air. Ellie slowly let her legs stretch out in front of her, through the water she stared at the dark bruises on her thighs, her heart a stone in her chest as memories from the previous night flashed in her mind every time she closed her eyes.

"Ellie!" The voice on the other side of the bathroom door was loud, and far too cheerful for that hour, but, it wrenched Ellie from her memories.

Sharing an apartment on campus had its benefits. Being in close proximity to her classes allowed Ellie the opportunity to take her time getting ready in the morning. One thing she hadn't accounted for, was the attention of her roommate, who, was the complete opposite of Ellie. Now, Ellie almost preferred solitude. Angela, on the other hand, just a couple years older than her, seemed to have her nose in every bit of business and gossip she could get her hands on. She'd taken to trying to get Ellie to come out of her shell, as best she could; all the while Ellie attempted to maintain her distance- a failing effort.

"Ellie! I know you're in there.." Angela's voice dropped in pitch, but still sounded bright.

A groan escaped the Ellie's mouth as she yanked the towel from its hook just above the toilet, pulled the plug on the tub and crossed the pocket-sized room to the door as she wrapped the towel around herself. Their apartment wasn't fancy enough to have a large bathroom, and had just enough space for one of them to comfortably stand in front of the sink without bumping into anything.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming.." Ellie called back as she wiped off the mirror above the sink to check her reflection before opening the door.

The red head barged past her "Oh! Thank God! I had to pee so bad!"

"That's what you get for staying out so late, Angie… you sleep in." Ellie retorted, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Ahh, It's not that bad.." Angie flushed the toilet and stood to stretch, awkwardly adjusting her sweatpants as she did. Ellie rolled her eyes and turned to start down the hall, her roommate was insufferable sometimes. "There's another party tonight, Ellie! You're coming with me, right? Right…?" Angie tilted her head to try to keep sight of Ellie, but the loud slam of her bedroom door was soon to follow the girl rounding the corner. She sighed and shook her head.

* * *

Ellie took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, adjusted her headband, pressed play and started running. Winters in the city were bitter, and despite the cold air making her joints ache, Ellie ran every single day in the two hours between her first and second classes. It was the easiest way to clear her head, but that day, her legs ached in resistance; she was a bit slower than usual. Distracted, she ran her usual route, passing through campus, and following the sidewalks just outside the walls until she'd circled around the school as a whole. It was therapeutic for her, a part of her daily routine.

The air burned in her lungs as she pushed herself to continue down the packed streets, weaving in and out of small groups of students on their way to start their day; with it still being so early on in the day most of the students out were clad in sweatpants and puffy coats, most only half awake, paper coffee cups in hand, zombies: The usual traffic. There wasn't a whole lot in the neighborhoods surrounding the school, nothing more than student housing and a couple coffee shops and local shops, scenic, with the holiday lights.

She rounded the corner to the left, following, with her eyes, the lights on the campus walls, dodging a couple of other students, just before slipping on an unsalted patch of ice and running straight into someone else, making her fall backwards onto her butt.

"Holy crap! I'm so sorry!" Ellie looked up just in time to see the boy she'd run into scrambling to his feet. His coat seemed a little big for him, his pale green beanie pulled down tightly around his head, he was either rushed out the door that morning, or just didn't care that it didn't match. He offered her his hand, she shook her head and got up on her own. "I wasn't paying attention… are you okay?"

Ellie stared at him for a few seconds, before pulling her ear buds out, she hadn't heard him but read his lips. "I'm fine." She stooped down and picked up the camera at his feet and held it out to him. "Is it broken?"

The boy had been staring at her face, she could tell he was still a bit frazzled from her running into him, she noted the light dusting of freckles across his nose; his eyes slowly drifted down to the camera in her hand, he quickly glanced back up into her eyes for a second before he looked down again and took it from her. "Oh, uh.." He looked it over for a few seconds. "It's okay." The lens was shattered. "Perfectly fine." He smiled at her, and once he did his face lit up.

"Okay…" Ellie shifted her weight. "Well, uh… I should probably go, kinda in a hurry."

"Oh… -"

Before he could say any more she was already backing away from him. "Sorry." She turned and took off back in the direction she came from.

"Man.." He sighed and scratched the back of his head as he watched after her and then looked down to his camera, a little disappointed that he had to go get a new lens.

"Hey, Prompto! What's the hold up?" The boy looked up just as his friend jogged up to him from the opposite direction. Noctis, his best friend, had been dragging him along to the arcade, on any other day he would have been excited to go, but he hadn't felt good for a couple days.

"Dude, I told you my stomach hurts.." He yanked the hat off his head, his blonde hair, no longer held up with the hat flopped into place.

Noctis groaned and crossed his arms "Stop being a baby."

"I'm not! It feels like something's trying to claw its way outta there!" He made a scratching motion at his stomach. "Like in that movie with those creepy things with the sharp tails and big heads.."

"You mean Alien?" Noctis shifted his weight and shook his head. "And it went through the chest, not the guy's stomach.."

"Whatever!" They started walking again. "I thought it was called something else.."

Once Ellie had safely rounded the corner she flattened herself against the brick wall and closed her eyes, trying to calm her pounding heart. He'd scared the hell out of her, but more so, as new people always did, made her nervous. Ellie felt awful that she'd broken his camera, and even worse that he played it off like there was nothing wrong with it. She sighed and pushed off the wall and started jogging back to the campus entrance, her next class would be starting soon, and she was always early.

* * *

 _'Shoulders back_ _Long neck_ _Stomach in_ _Head-tilt'_

Ellie breathed slowly as she ran, through her mind all the corrections she'd ever received as she pushed through barre work. She chanced a glance at the girl on the other side of the barre, who, also was heavily concentrating on her work. She shifted into second position.

 _'Elbows up_ _Arms out_ _Legs straight'_

Back to fifth position. "Good job ladies, keep up the energy!" Madame Petrov commanded. "Anna, elbows up!" Madame Petrov, the teacher in all of the advanced dance classes, was an elderly woman with dark gray hair. She was stoic, and usually angry, but could be the most helpful and nice woman.

 _'higher,… higher…higher_ _Pull up_ _Point your toes, Ellie…_ _But, don't sickle!_ _Turn out.'_

Ellie let her breath out slowly as the music ended and turned to the other side to begin the exercise again to work the other leg, taking a moment to stretch as the pianist flipped the sheets back over to begin again. She stood the closest to the front of the studio next to the mirrors, having them close by really helped her make sure she was doing everything right. Her hands slowly felt around the top of her bun, securing the stray bits of her dark brown hair into place with the bobby pin that had come loose from it's hold; as she did she caught sight of one of her classmates staring at her, she smiled and cast her attention back to her hair.

"Don't forget that auditions for the spring show are in a couple days, I expect all of you to show up, and I expect some of you.." Madame paused for a second as she stared at Ellie, who, by that time was already heavily concentrating on her movements. "to do exceptionally well. You'll be required to bring your updated portfolio to the audition, and the pictures will need to be in your uniform, after we run through the russian dance and waltz of the flowers you are all dismissed. One week until the Nutcracker."

The last two hours of class seemed to go by too quickly. And as Ellie stepped outside the studio the wind bit straight through her jacket. She adjusted the strap on her duffel bag and looked out at the falling snow, the sun had gone down maybe an hour before, and the streetlamps cast a dim glow along the paths through campus. The snow crunched under her feet as she passed through the oval, she slowed to a stop in the center when she met a heavyset boy around her age. He had shaggy black hair, and a dark leather jacket with a gray hood, he smirked at her and held his hand out to her.

"Hey, sweetheart, you haven't answered your phone all day.., thought we could talk about last night.." Ellie took a slight step back and shook her head, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her along back in the direction she'd come from. "You're gonna have to learn eventually, Ellie. You belong to me."

 **This Chapter's Playlist:**

Lazarus- David Bowie

I Am The Light – The White Buffalo

Breezeblocks- Alt-J

The Ghost Inside – Broken Bells

The Troubles – U2

Red Dragon Tattoo- Fountains of Wayne

And The Waltz Goes On – Sir Anthony Hopkins

A Mad Russian's Christmas- Trans-Siberian Orchestra


	2. Chapter 2

_Reader,_ _This chapter is going to seem incredibly rushed, the events of the next chapter will take place several months later, so I needed to get this out of the way, and the following four chapters will take place over the duration of the entire next year. I just wish I had the energy to hash out all the little details, but I don't want this to be one of those 40 chapter fics; I'll try to keep it in the thirties…. And I wish that I had a better handle on writing the CC as they were meant to be. Gonna be a lot of work ahead._ _I've based the academy's performance of the nutcracker off the royal ballet's 2016 performance with Leticia Stock and Marcelino Sambe, the choreography is beautiful (and if you're into that kinda stuff I'd suggest checking it out if you have the time- the link to their rehearsal video will be in the playlist at the end, it's very informative and gives you a good insight on how rehearsals really are), there's also a little bit about the music in that video- informative, but not gonna lie, I skipped through it._ _This chapter will probably be complete crap- cause I do the best writing when I'm half asleep in the morning! (not) the playlist is skimpy, short, and mostly irrelevant, sorry about that_.

* * *

TWO

The nutcracker started on a Wednesday, and ran in the theatre until Sunday, two shows a day. As usual, Ellie was excited about the performances, she'd worked hard after accepting the role of Clara. It was a big deal in her dance career, especially being the only first year soloist in the show. It was Saturday, and as she sat in her dressing room, all she could think about was the special guests that would be attending that night: King Regis, and his son Prince Noctis. It was a bit of a last minute arrangement, and her classmates made it out to be a big deal that they were being visited by the king. Ellie had wanted to ignore the idea of them being there, they were just two more sets of eyes watching her after all, but deep down, she knew it would add just one more reason to think she did horribly at the end of the night.

"Ellie." The backstage manager shocked her by poking her head into the dressing room Ellie had shut herself in. The mousey woman had massive glasses, with bifocals that made her blue eyes look like giant saucers, her sandy blonde hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail. "They want all soloists on stage for the cast meeting."

Ellie looked at her through the mirror of her vanity, the lights around it cast a bright glow on the woman's face. "I'll be out when I'm done." Her voice seemed mildly annoyed with her routine being interrupted. The woman left her alone and Ellie sighed and sat back in her seat, she closed her eyes for a few seconds before looking back into the mirror.

She had already pulled a portion of her hair back, everything above the crown of her head, and left the rest down, to cascade down her back, and over her shoulders, she ran her fingers through it, pulling on the curls at the end. She'd had to trim a few inches off in order to keep her hair down the way the designer had wanted, it now only came down just to the middle of her shoulder blades; she didn't like it, but it wasn't the first time she'd had to cut her hair for something like happiness of a picky costume designer. She finished her makeup by applying her blush, she snapped the compact closed and tossed it onto the vanity as she stood. She stretched her feet and ankles; she pointed her toes, one foot at a time, and pushed the box of her shoe into the floor to lean further into the stretch. It was time to be social. This was the part she hated.

With her ear buds in, blaring Frank Sinatra, Ellie ghosted through the crowded green room and hallways between her and backstage. Members of the backstage crew running around with props, clipboards, the mousey manager from a few minutes prior barking orders to a couple of them. Dancers rushing to get into their costumes, or put on makeup, a few stretching in the hallway with headphones on. If there was one thing Ellie loved other than the high she got from dancing on stage, it would be how one could be easily lost backstage in the mayhem that usually ensued right before a performance.

"Well, we are finally here!" Ellie could barely see the heads of the choreographer and the director over the small group as she approached, both hefty, balding older men. The deep red curtain was still pulled shut, giving them the privacy of using all of upstage to their advantage, to practice and stretch, or have a meeting like they were. "I know you've all worked hard to get here, but I urge you all to put your best foot forward tonight. There will be talent scouts from some of the major ballet companies here tonight, and tomorrow for the matinee. Those of you in your last two years are who they will be looking out for." The man clapped his hands together and smiled. "Best of luck to you all tonight!"

She was sure she'd missed everything, wasn't all too concerned, the director rarely showed his face, and when he did it was because he was forced to. You'd think that the director of the department would be a little bit more hands on, but he never was. Almost out of nowhere the backstage manager popped up next to them. "Three minutes til curtain, everyone to their places, please!" She said loudly.

Showtime.

* * *

When the king went to the ballet it was always one of the most heavily guarded events, but that night, both the king and the prince would be there, which meant: Twice the turnout, and twice the amount of security. Prompto had been invited by Noctis to come along, insisting: 'if I have to sit through this crap, then you do too'. Prompto never would have let on, but he was kind of excited, not because he liked ballet, but because it would give him the opportunity to get a couple good shots of the dancers, they had the best seat in the house, after all, and he couldn't let the opportunity go to waste.

Prompto stood in the middle of the main hall, just behind Noctis, flipping through some of the pictures he'd taken during act 1. The show was over, and despite having said a hundred times that he thought stuff like this was boring, he actually liked it. He stopped on a close up shot of Clara, he'd looked at the slide about ten times, she looked familiar, but he couldn't place her face. He nudged Noctis with his elbow " 'ey, Noct, does this girl look familiar? Did we go to school with her?"

Noctis was fidgeting with his tie, but still turned around to look at the little screen on the camera "uh… I don't think so... I don't think I've seen her before tonight." He sighed "Ugh, you think they'd be okay with us leaving? This tie is killing me!" He'd been complaining all night about having to dress up, they both had to. Prompto cheated and wore almost all of his old school uniform, nobody seemed to notice, that he'd only added his own flair with a blue bowtie- it matched his eyes.

"Yeah…" The pianist on the far side of the room finished his song and a couple of the people nearby clapped for him, Prompto looked up for just a second as he adjusted the collar of his shirt to loosen his bowtie, before looking down at the camera again. He'd been saying over and over again how she looked familiar all night as he took pictures. "Ya know, she kinda looks like that girl that ran into me last week."

Noctis glanced back at the screen, and shrugged "You sure? Maybe you'll get to talk to her."

"What?! No! I bet she wouln't even remember me.." He pouted, and was about to continue, but Noctis interrupted him.

"Do you even know this girl's name?"

"Uh…" Prompto whipped the program out of his back pocket and flipped through it. "Says here…" He stopped on the third page. "Her name's Ellie."

"You didn't even know her name? You've been talking about her since it happened!" Noctis grumbled. "Why didn't you ask what her name was?"

"She ran off before I could ask!" Prompto said in his defense, he knew he'd had enough time to ask her if he'd gotten around to it, but she made him nervous.

An exasperated sigh escaped Noctis's mouth as he put his hands on his hips and tossed his head to the side, looking away. "Hopeless…" The corner of his mouth twitched into a smirk and he nodded in the direction he was looking. "Hey, isn't that her, over there?" Prompto looked up, following his friend's gaze, to the staircase that led back into the theater. Ellie, and a couple other of the other dancers, all leads in the show had come out in costume, and were slowly descending the staircase from the theater, he guessed this is what 'meet-n-greet' meant in the program. "You should go talk to her." Noctis was rewarded with a glare. "Oh, c'mon, she looks like she's nice."

"Are you crazy? She'll think I'm a stalker or something!" Prompto crossed his arms. "Besides, she probably won't have time.."

"Thought you said she wouldn't remember you?" Noctis raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Uh-well, what if she does?"

"Oh, come on, ya baby.."Noctis grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the stairs, where there already was a small crowd forming to get pictures and talk to the dancers. "Man.., all these people,… you'd think they were celebrities or something.." He mumbled as they neared the crowd.

In truth, the ranking in the arts academy had a surprisingly large following in the area. The 'class ranking' was a list, ordered in skill level, of all of the students in each department. Updated each month, the entirety of the list was distributed to the locals through a small magazine, and gave a little detail on each student's progress and a small biography. When it came to dance, usually, only the top three were awarded professional jobs by talent scouts. It was like a tv drama, just without the tv.

Prompto had been frantically reading through Ellie's paragraph in the program, terrified that she'd laugh at him for not knowing anything about her other than her name. All he gathered was that she grew up in a small rural community outside the crown city, everything else was jibberish. Noctis, then, yanked him forward and shoved him into the crowd surrounding the dancers. Prompto took a deep breath before he began to slowly push his way through the waning crowd. It was mostly elderly people that had gathered, a couple parents with their young children, and a few people around his age who he assumed were students at the academy. He hung back and waited until the crowd was mostly gone before he made his way over to her. She had just finished up saying goodbye to an elderly couple when she looked up at him.

A small smile crept onto her face, but the strain was clearly evident. "Hi! Did you enjoy the show?" The slight glint of recognition in her eyes was comforting to him. "Wait, don't I know you?" Ellie tilted her head, and the fake smile disappeared, and was quickly replaced with a calm, sincere, expression.

He thought she looked prettier up close. "Uh… well,… kinda.." Prompto started, and he fidgeted with his camera, he flicked his thumb nail against the edge of his lense cover. "We um… ran into each other last week..?"

It took a moment to register what he'd said, but her eyes widened "You're… Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry about your camera! Are you okay?" Ellie took a step back to quickly look him over, she spoke quickly. "I promise I can pay for the lens, I really shoulda watched where I was going.." The professionalism had faded from her voice quickly.

Prompto was a bit shocked, but he shook his head. "No, no, it's okay! Really.." He held his camera up to show her the new lens "It's okay now." He tapped his index finger on the top of the camera, he didn't know exactly how to break the ice with her, and shifted his weight awkwardly.

"So,.. you took pictures during the show?" Ellie asked, she could tell by the awkward look on his freckled face that he had really made an effort in talking to her, she tried not to sound mean like she usually did.

"Huh..?" Prompto tilted his head before mentally kicking himself, he audibly laughed a little. "Yeah! I did, I got some good stuff from act one if ya wanna take a look." Without hesitation he flicked on his camera to show her, he had to scroll through a lot of pictures to get back to act one, but she stopped him on one particular close shot of herself.

In the picture the light was low, and she stood in perfect arabesque, one of her props held out in front of her. It seemed almost as if he'd been right up against the stage- which was impossible. "This is beautiful." Ellie said quietly, just loud enough for him to hear. "You're good at this."

"Ya think so?" His eyes lit up when she'd said it. "Thanks!"

"So, do you go to school for photography?" Ellie tilted to watch as he slowly flicked back through a couple more of his pictures.

Prompto was quiet for a second, he'd been absorbed in watching the screen too. "Oh,.. uh- no, I just do this for fun." His gaze slowly drifted to her face, and she took a step back once he'd stopped scrolling. "I can, uh… get you a print of the one you liked?" He was a bit upset that it sounded more like a question than anything, but he let his camera drop against his chest and put the lens cover back on without looking.

Ellie's eyes widened for a brief second before she grinned "That'd be great!"

"Cool…" He awkwardly shifted to reach into his pocket to pull out his phone. "Want me ta call ya when I have it?" Prompto's voice cracked at the last second once he'd realized what he'd said. He hadn't meant to be so forward, and he hoped she didn't think he was .

"Are you trying to ask me for my number?" Ellie tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, the sarcastic undertone to her voice threw him off.

"W-what?" Prompto stuttered. "No! I mean—well, yeah, but.."

Ellie laughed, and took his phone out of his hand, he'd already had his contacts pulled up, she made a new one. "I'm just kidding.." She filled in her information, he seemed harmless enough. If Ethan had been there she'd surely regret even talking to the boy, she took advantage of her freedom. "What's your name?"

Prompto swallowed hard, he forgot to introduce himself and hesitated for just a second before responding, his eyes flicked back and forth between her and the head of the person behind her, as she handed him his phone back. "Prompto.. Argentum" He threw his last name in there for good measure.

"My name's Ellie." She said happily. "It's nice to meet you Prompto." A contagious grin spread on his face, and for a brief second they smiled at each other- Ellie's expression dropped as a woman's voice called over the loudspeaker asking the dancers to return to the green room. "I… have to go." Ellie's pointe shoe clacked against the marble step behind her as she took a step back. "Sorry, it was really nice meeting you." She held her hand out, almost as if she wanted to shake his hand.

"Oh.. uh.." He reached out to shake her hand, but she just squeezed his in both of hers, her hands were ice cold, and her small hands couldn't cover his. "Nice ta meet you too, Ellie.." She nodded and smiled sweetly before darting back up the stairs she'd come from. Prompto watched her go, the skirt of her costume bounced as she bounded up the steps. Ellie paused for just a second at the top, they made eye contact, she smiled, and he couldn't fight the dorky look off his face in time to smile back. Then she was gone.

Prompto's gaze drifted down to the phone in his hand, her information was still pulled up, he was beside himself with excitement, but it was short lived once he realized that Noctis had left him at the opera house, and he'd have to walk home. A groan escaped his lips as he made his way out into the cold night, it had been snowing the whole day and well into the evening, even then snow drifted to the ground.

••Hey! It's Prompto! Sorry for being weird, I hope texting is okay?

He was halfway through his hour-long walk before his phone went off, he almost dropped it while trying to get it out of his pocket.

•Texting is fine.

••Thanks. Hope you have a good night.

•You too.

 **Chapter Playlist:**

Reaper- Sia

Issues- Julia Michaels

I Only Have Eyes For You – Tashaki Miyaki

The Way You Look Tonight- Frank Sinatra

No Place Like Home- Marianas Trench

Waltz of the Flowers- Tchaikovsky

Rehearsal video:

/O2xIz8ZCW4Y


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

Auditions for Swan Lake took place after the week-long 'holiday' break -which happened every year before the holidays-; the wait for their delayed posting of the cast list was grueling, but, Ellie managed. She'd made the cut, and, much to her surprise she'd, once again, been given a lead role. They had foreign exchange students that season, that Ellie thought were far more talented than she was.

Ellie leaned against the counter in her kitchen, staring intently at her cup of coffee, no lights on but the one above the sink. Her kitchen was nothing but a small patch of stained, cream colored, tile with a island counter that served as the divider between it and the living room, they had a couple stools on the other side, their appliances were plain, old, and white with a couple rust stains on the edges and corners, things their landlord had somewhere in storage and lent to them when she realized the girls had no furniture. The solitude of the one hour between the time she woke up and the time Angie woke up was something that Ellie treasured. The silence gave her a chance to clear her head and mentally prepare herself for a busy day.

A familiar buzzing noise from the other side of the counter caught her attention, she looked at her phone, just as it shifted a bit from the reminder notification. It was a little early for anyone she knew to be up, including her dad, who always woke up before the sun rose.

 **1 New Message From Prompto**

* * *

THREE WEEKS LATER

It had been a little over two months since Prompto got Ellie's number; It took little time for him to have a general idea of what her schedule was, and he found himself waking up early just to text her in the morning before her classes started. He wanted to be available for her to talk to whenever she was free, whether or not she only sent one or two words back; it made him feel like he was being a good friend. It was five in the morning, and he forced himself to blink awake, his alarm had been going off for the past half hour. That day, he just couldn't wake up. He rolled onto his side and looked out into his darkened room, the night light under his desk cast a dim yellow glow onto the floor space in front of it. Over the years his bedroom had grown more personalized, with posters, pictures he'd taken, and a couple figures from his favorite TV show that he'd received as gifts from Noctis- other than that, his room was as plain as ever, bed on the left side, desk on the right, a small book shelf with more empty space than he had books to fill it. It mattered little to him, he was hardly ever home.

Prompto's blurry vision focused as well as it could, the sign he always waited for before groping the nightstand for his glasses and phone. He had a couple notifications from the night before, just minutes after he'd fallen asleep, a couple texts, a voicemail from his mom- probably telling him she and his dad would be gone for another week. He squinted at his phone's screen as he tapped his way through a couple pages to pull up his texts, and immediately selected his last conversation with Ellie.

 _-Good Morning, sunshine_!

He let his head fall back against the pillow and sighed, it turned into a yawn; he rubbed his eyes, they ached to be closed again. All he could think about before falling asleep the night before was what he would say if he'd had the courage to ask her to hang out with him. Sure, he may as well ask her on a date if he were to work up that much courage, but he didn't think she wanted anything like that. Just by talking to her he thought that she seemed too absorbed in her schooling to try to have a social life- she didn't need someone asking her out. His heart almost leapt out of his chest when his phone buzzed, he squinted at the screen again.

- _Good morning, Prompto_.

A grin crept onto his lips as he typed back:

- _How'd you sleep? You gonna be busy today?_

Ellie didn't answer him for about ten minutes, which gave him the chance to get up, go to the bathroom and brush his teeth. He didn't really need to be up that early, and usually he just went right back to sleep when she started class- her response to his last text usually woke him up when she got out. He plopped down on the couch in the living room and flicked on the tv, the cartoon channel was still on.

 _-Only have a couple classes today because rehearsal for Swan Lake starts tomorrow. I need to look into finishing my portfolio today when I get out, so I'll be busy anyways…_

 _-Your portfolio? Like, pictures and stuff? I can help you with that!_

It was Prompto's insisting that finally broke Ellie down to the point where, at first, she accepted his help with completing her portfolio for school, and it took all of seven days while he edited the photos he took to work up the courage to ask her to actually hang out with him. It was a bit of a gloomy day when the opportunity arose. He'd printed the pictures she'd asked for, he only needed to do some mild touch-ups on his computer before he brought them to her. He only took so long because he was nervous.

The weather had remained cold, and that morning the night's frost was still on the ground, they'd decided on getting coffee at her favorite coffee shop. When he arrived she was already inside, sitting at the booth on the far end of the café, she stood to greet him as he approached. Ellie seemed to be in a good mood that day, she smiled the second she saw him. The café was busy, there was a long line of groggy college students, all clad either in their pajamas or work attire, there was really no in between. The place was rustic, like the interior of a cabin, dark stained wooden floors, and walls, scenic paintings littering the walls, a couple stone fireplaces lining the wall to the left, the room littered with couches, booths, and a couple huge bean bag chairs, the whole place smelled like pine needles. Prompto had been into that café once before, the barista didn't seem to like him much.

"Thank you for doing this, Prompto.." Ellie thanked him as he handed over the manila envelope, she tucked it under her arm, and continued to smile.

"Oh,.. uh… heh.." He shrugged and scratched the back of his head through his beanie. "You said you needed it for school, right? I got ya!"

There was a bit of an awkward silence as they broke eye contact "So…" Ellie started. "They're already selling tickets for our new show… I was wondering if you'd wanna go?" The spring show was the usually the most difficult to get tickets for all year, it was when they had the foreign exchange students, and a lot of seats went to their families and talent scouts, the show was almost exclusive to them.

"I saw." Prompto said. "They're so expensive, I'm gonna have ta get 'em last minute unless Noct goes again.."

Ellie nodded slowly as she dug into the pocket of her jacket to reveal white mailing envelope. "Well,… I was gonna say I have a couple tickets if you and a friend want to go? They're gonna be close to the front." She held the envelope out to him.

His eyebrows shot up in surprise, and he shifted his weight, uncomfortably; he wanted to go, desperately, but, he hadn't expected her to offer him tickets. Did she want him to go? Or did she feel like she needed to repay him for helping her out. "R-really? Shouldn't you give those to your family?" He half-heartedly put his hands up and shook his head.

"Oh-No.." She shook her head and grinned. "Originally, I got them for my mom and dad, but they already had tickets when I offered. I'd like for you and a friend to go instead, since my parents will be there anyway." Carefully, she reached out and grabbed his left wrist and put the envelope in his hand. "You don't have to go if you don't want to, Prompto, but, I don't have anyone else to give them to.."

Prompto looked to the envelope in his hand, then back at her. "I'll be there." He nodded, and almost accepted it as a mission he knew his being there would make her happy, a smile played on his face. "Still wanna get coffee?"

"Dude! C'mon! She gave me tickets and everything…" Prompto whined as he paced around the living room in Noctis's apartment. He'd gone, immediately, to see Noctis to ask if he'd attend the ballet with him, and he was met with resistance.

A loud sigh escaped Noctis's mouth "No… I hate ballet. Just cause you wanna impress this girl, doesn't mean I have to go." Noctis was sitting back on the couch, his feet propped up on the coffee table, his phone rest in his lap. "Why don't you ask Ignis? He'll be your third wheel.."

They'd been arguing for the past half hour, and Prompto finally gave up, he'd really wanted Noctis to go, he'd have no other friend be there to catch him when he tripped over his words. Noctis was always there for him when he had trouble talking to girls, but not this time. Prompto audibly groaned and furiously shook his head. "Fine…"

 **Chapter Playlist:**

Buffalo – Alt-J ft. Mountain Man

Riptide – Vance Joy

Madness – Muse

All Time Low - Jon Bellion

Somewhere In Brooklyn – Bruno Mars


	4. Chapter 4

_Reader,_

 _Swan Lake is a classical ballet with a mesmerizing love story that will leave an impact on your heart no matter the audience. It was debuted in Moscow in 1877, and though, at the time, it was not well received, it has been reworked several times and is now one of the most popular and well loved ballets._

 _For those of you who have no idea what Swan Lake is about… It revolves around a princess who has been put under a spell to spend her days as a swan and her nights in human form. She meets the charming Prince Seigfried and the two quickly fall in love, however, the sorcerer who had put the princess under his spell tries to tear them apart, and even brings his own daughter in to try to steal the prince away. After confusing and heartbreaking events, the story has a happy ending with the princess and prince living happily ever after._

 _In most cases a single ballerina is cast to play both Odette and Odile (the white and black swan), it is a difficult role that many ballerinas wish to dance. Unfortunately, I don't have any personal experience with this ballet, and have yet to see it live. However, it remains one of my favorites._

 _Please, be patient with this chapter, it's LONG, and boring, at least in my opinioin._

* * *

 _ **Chapter 4 – The Third Wheel**_

Swan Lake came too fast, and Ellie didn't think she was ready, she still struggled with the final act in the last remaining hours before the first show. It was nerve wracking, for years Ellie had dreamed of being in the position she was, yet, still, she felt that she wasn't good enough, that she needed to push herself harder. Most times she did, enough to make herself sick, but not this season. They would only be running Swan Lake for four days, before the company moved them to Lestallum for another four days, usually the only show they travelled for was the holiday show; they seemed to be doing a lot of new things that year.

It was the third day of performances that she'd managed to get tickets for, fortunately, it wasn't the same day her parents had decided to go, she thought it would have been awful for Prompto and her parents to be in the same place. Her mother liked to assume every guy she was talking to was someone she could be dating, and well, Prompto… was Prompto. Ellie set her makeup brush down on the vanity in front of her and stared at herself in the mirror, the bright glow of the lights on the mirror made the dark circles under eyes very obvious, she was exhausted. She'd been up for most of the night worrying about the performance, it was rough, trying to force herself not to think about it. This would be the second show that Prompto attended, and she had no idea who he was bringing with him, if he brought anyone at all, and the mystery of that made her nervous, though she knew she shouldn't let it bother her that much. She just had a feeling she was going to do something to make herself look stupid.

The mousey stage manager poked her head in the door; Ellie noted that she had a new pair of glasses, they were a little bit smaller than the other ones, her hair, instead of in a tight ponytail, lay freely over either of her shoulders. "Ms. Wolfe, it's time."

Ellie nodded as she adjusted her head piece "Right, let's go." She stood, and followed the stage manager out of the green room.

* * *

When they met up outside the opera house Prompto immediately felt underdressed. Ignis always had a habit of dressing for work when he didn't need to be, though he didn't stand out in his dress pants and white button up shirt, open jacket over top. Prompto, on the other hand, only had black jeans and a grey button up shirt, stood out like a sore thumb, he tried not to think about it. The February air was crisp, and cold, but not as bitter as it had been a few weeks prior, spring was well on its way. They nodded their greeting to each other, and walked in silence up the steps and inside.

The show seemed like it was too long, and if he hadn't brought his camera with him Prompto would have fidgeted the whole time. Ignis had watched quietly, content, and during intermission read through the program, Prompto made sure that he pointed out Ellie's paragraph. The closer it grew to the end of the show, the more antsy Prompto became, he nearly jumped out of his seat when the curtain closed, and dropped his program in the process. A audible sigh escaped Ignis's mouth as he stooped to pick the program up off the floor. "Your friend really is quite the interesting woman."

"Ya think so? She's really nice." Prompto nodded in agreement as Ignis handed over the program and they began to shuffle out of the aisle.

"Yes, it was very kind of her to give you the tickets." Ignis smiled at Prompto's enthusiasm, the boy got excited by a lot of things, it took a trained eye to see when it was genuine. "She must be a good friend."

"She is." Prompto answered as he pushed one side of the double doors that led to the hall, where several vendors had set up, selling food and drink, apparel and little trinkets. He groaned as the reached the bottom of the steps, he looked back at Ignis. "So, what did ya think?... Uh- about the show, I mean." As usual, Prompto struggled to have something to talk to Ignis about, they rarely saw each other, and talked to each other even less. It was a bit of a surprise that Ignis even agreed to come along.

Ignis crossed his arms over his chest, his usual confident expression crossed his face. "I think it was wonderful, you can definitely tell they've put a lot of work into this performance. It's a shame they'll be gone for a couple weeks after this."

"Wait, what?" Prompto sputtered at the thought of Ellie being gone for a couple weeks, she hadn't even told him. "How- what?"

"Well, if you cared to read the program you shoved in my face when we arrived, you'd know this show will be playing in Lestallum for several days."Ignis quietly sighed and shook his head, Prompto could be oblivious sometimes.

* * *

Ellie had been wandering the lobby looking for Prompto, and it took several minutes to pick his crazy hair out of the crowd. He looked nice, and seemed as if he'd actually gone out to find something nice to wear. From a distance she could tell he was talking to someone, the man was a bit taller than he was, and they seemed to know each other. She tilted her head as she approached them, they were talking just low enough for her not to hear until she was next to them. Ellie smoothed out her tutu as she came up to them, and once Prompto caught sight of her his face lit up as it always did when she was around. She never noticed the drastic change until that moment. "Ellie! Hey, great job!" Prompto moved to try to give her a hug, but she put her hand up and stopped him.

"Sorry.. Prompto, the costume designer would kill me if I let anyone mess with this tutu." She grinned. "I'm glad you made it though. Did you wind up finding someone to come with you?" At that she shot a quick glance in Ignis's direction, though their demeanor was entirely different, Ellie assumed he was who Prompto had finagled into coming along, she almost felt bad, but he looked like someone who might enjoy it.

"Uh- yeah." Prompto nodded in Ignis's direction. "This is Ignis, uhh- my friend, Iggy, this is Ellie."

Ignis offered his hand to shake, a small smile on his face. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ellie, I've heard a lot about you. Eh- Good things, of course. Prompto thinks very highly of you."

Ellie smiled back as she shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you too, thanks for coming." She shot a smile in Prompto's direction as well, she thought it was sweet that he would say nice things about her when she wasn't around.

"Yes, and I thought you were stunning in the nutcracker as well, though I wasn't able to stay for the whole performance, what I did see was lovely." Ignis added, he had also been there when the king had been during the holidays, but he'd been called away for business.

She tilted her head, her smile didn't waver. "Were you? Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Ignis gave a slight nod. "I did read that academy will be taking the show to Lestallum? That is quite the achievement for a first year student to be in a touring show, you must be excited."

"I am." Ellie said, happily, as she clasped her hands in front of her, at her waist. "It's gonna be good for my career."

"You didn't tell me you were gonna be traveling for this…" Prompto interjected before Ignis could speak, he sounded a little hurt. He scratched at the back of his head and shifted his weight, one hand on his camera. "I thought you got a couple weeks for a break after this."

She shifted to look at Prompto. "Oh, we usually do, but this show we only have a couple days after we get back before we start classes again for the summer semester. It'll suck, but, at least it'll keep us all in the habit of things." Ellie smiled and looked between the two of them, despite Prompto's tendency to annoy her, she was glad he had been able to make it, the option to hide in conversation with someone she knew was always nice after a performance, she hated all the questions.

"I do hope you don't overwork yourself, Ellie. You'll make yourself sick." Ignis said, though he wasn't all that worried, he still said it. It would be disastrous if Ellie missed out on classes at this point, he didn't need too much insight to know that.

Ellie nodded with a smile. "Of course, I try to take care of myself." Prompto's phone went off, a loud chirpy ringtone that could be heard over the buzz of the people around them. He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound, having thought he had put his phone on silent when they arrived; his nerves must have made him forget. He held a finger up as he excused himself off to the other side of the room, which earned a slightly irritated sigh from Ignis. "Oh- well then.." Ellie let out a bit of a nervous laugh as Prompto walked away.

"My apologies, he must have forgotten to silence his phone.." Ignis offered. "But, I'm sure you're not all too surprised."

"Yeah,… He's forgetful sometimes, it's alright." She fidgeted and shifted her weight, at a loss for words. "So…"

"Have you taken ballet classes since you were little?" He questioned, in an attempt to bring life to the conversation. Ignis could tell that Ellie had immediately become uncomfortable when Prompto walked away. "I'm sure someone of your skill level must have taken classes for quite some time."

Ellie nodded "Since I was five, I didn't become serious with it until middle school." Her eyes lit up as she explained herself. "I guess I've always wanted to be a professional, but I didn't think I could do it until my instructor told me about the academy."

"It must have taken a great deal of discipline to come this far, you should be proud." Ignis gave a soft smile just as Prompto quickly walked back to them, a disappointed look on his face. "Everything alright, Prompto?" He asked, the blonde shook his head.

"I gotta go! My parents need me at home.. and I need to catch the bus." Prompto sounded a bit frustrated, he looked between the two of him, but his eyes stopped on Ellie. "Sorry, I can't walk you home tonight."

Ellie shrugged "It's alright, it shouldn't take too long for me to get out tonight, I'll be fine."

"mmn.." Prompto nodded as he started off with a wave. "See you guys later!"

"Bye!" Ellie waved back.

Ignis only managed to nod and give a small wave to Prompto as the boy took off, and turned his attention back to Ellie. "You walk home after your performances?" He asked, it seemed a bit odd for her not to take the bus or have someone pick her up.

"Oh,.. I don't live too far away, it's maybe… half an hour?" Ellie crossed her arms over her chest as a cold breeze made the hairs on her arms stand on end, her gaze shifted to the front doors, they'd been propped open as people began to slowly leave the theater, but back to Ignis in a second. "It's not that bad."

He furrowed his brow, in the city, and at night, a thirty minute walk was a long way to go. "I suppose not…but, please, allow me to walk with you, the city can be a dangerous place at night."

Her stomach twisted at the suggestion, but in surprise. "Y-you don't have to do that, really. I tell Prompto all the time that I-"

"I insist, it's no trouble." Ignis reassured her with a nod.

Ellie would have put up more of a fight on the matter, but, the look on his face indicated that he wouldn't budge until she said yes. She shifted her weight as she took one more quick look around them at the thinning crowd. "I… don't see why not, then.." A small smile crept onto her lips, she reminded herself that Prompto wouldn't introduce her to anyone dangerous, Ignis seemed nice enough. "I should go change then." She nodded and took a slight step back.

He nodded in agreement. "I'll wait by the door."

* * *

When Ellie came back out into hall she had completely changed out of her costume, now, in sweatpants, a hoodie, and a coat over top. She met Ignis at the door, who, in his coat, a brown peacoat with a hood, he had been looking at his phone when she approached him by the door. He, looked up from his phone, and immediately deposited it into his pocket. "Are you ready?" He was answered with a nod. "Lead the way."

The walk back to campus was, for the most part, quiet; small talk about Ellie's hometown, a vacation town near Galdin Quay, centered around an amusement park, questions about Ignis's upbringing. Ellie was surprised at how quickly she became comfortable in their conversation and with his questions. He, genuinely, seemed curious about her, but, after he revealed his connection with the royal family, she assumed being good at conversation must have been a field requirement.

Despite the long walk, it seemed as if they were in front of the bakery in only a few minutes. They slowed to a stop in front of the business, both with their hands still in their coat pockets. "Well, here we are." Ellie said and tilted her head to the side as she looked up at him. "Thanks for walking me back." The bakery had long since been closed for the day, and both the light over the business door, and the one at the top of the metal stairs that led to Ellie's apartment gave more than enough light for them to see. "It was really sweet of you."

"As I said before, it's no trouble at all." Ignis smiled. "I think I'll be able to sleep better tonight knowing you made it home safe." His tone hinted that he may have been teasing, she rolled her eyes.

"Oh, yes, what would I do if I didn't have a big, strong, man to protect me.." Ellie smirked for just a moment, at the chuckle her comment earned her.

He continued to smile, his eyes shifted to the bakery behind her, and the steps that they stood in front of. On the trek back she told him she and her roommate lived above a bakery, it seemed quaint. "I suppose I'll let you go inside.., good luck with the performances in Lestallum." Ignis gave a slight nod. "I'm sure you'll do wonderful."

"Thank you." She grinned. "It was nice meeting you too."

"However… when you return.." Ignis started slowly, as if he had to carefully select his words. " I wonder if you would, perhaps, like to join me for coffee? It would be nice to hear about your trip."

Ellie's eyes widened momentarily, as she processed his question, a small smile crept back onto her lips. "That'd be nice, actually.." Her hand shifted in her coat pocket, and she pulled out her phone to open her contacts. She selected the option to create a new contact before offering the device to him. "Want me to call you when I get back in town?"

Uncharacteristically, Ignis only nodded in response as he, carefully, took her phone from her to type in his information. "Only if it's no trouble." He finally said and handed the device back to her. "I won't be offended if you're too tired before classes resume."

"It won't be." She grinned as she put her phone back in her pocket. "I guess I'll see you then?"

"Of course." Ignis nodded again with a smile. "Goodnight, Ellie."

"Goodnight, Ignis."

* * *

 **Chapter Playlist**

Hunger of the Pine – Alt-J

September – Earth, Wind & Fire

Cool Kids – Echosmith

Miss Independent – Ne-Yo

First Day of My Life – Bright Eyes


End file.
